A/N: Hey i moved into my campus im in the city its been rainy as shit and just been stressed all around please leave a review!

Yesterday, Oscar Pine thought he was suffering from delusions and hallucinations. Today, he was in a nice seat in Atlas, wearing the fancy clothes his aunt got for him, in the company of the Atlas General. The people around him were young, clearly Huntsmen, and kept staring at him.

"Did he age backwards?" Kylie wondered out loud.

"What? No. He's clearly possessed by a ghost," Kevin hypothesized, sounding far more assured than Oscar thought he should be.

"Ghosts? Really guys?" Weiss scoffed.

"Hey, we're fighting ghosts," Kylie defended.

"Yes. Alien ghosts. We have no idea what's really happening with this kid. Could be a descendant of his." Weiss gave a half hearted shrug. "Or reincarnated."

"Reincarnation implies he was recently reborn," Blake pointed out.

"Last I checked, this kid was like 15 or something." Yang smiled and patted Oscar on the head.

Blonko just gave him a concerned look. "This must be very strange for you, yes?"

Oscar nodded, relieved that someone finally said it. "It's very weird. I know all your names and stuff but...you guys don't know a thing about me. I feel like I was just dropped in the middle of a story I was reading."

"Yeah, yeah," Qrow grumbled, walking in. "Let's all just take a second and remember that this is overwhelming for everyone."

Oscar perked up. "Oh, yeah, Qrow?"

"Hm? What's up?"

He hunched his shoulders, nervous. "I'm...I'm supposed to tell you... I'd like my cane back."

Qrow blinked in confusion, before a small smile stretched across his face. He lifted the collapsed staff off of his hip and tossed it to Oscar, who caught it reflexively. In an instant, the cane immediately extended itself out, becoming the Ozpin's signature weapon. Oscar looked down at it, surprised, gently holding it in both hands as he looked up at the smiling Huntsman.

"Welcome back, Oz."

"Now that that's settled..." Ironwood cleared his throat. "And now that the late crowd is here..."

Qrow glanced away, grimacing.

"Oscar. If it's not too much to ask, would you mind showing us your little parlor trick?" the general asked.

Oscar took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay." He closed his eyes, but not before turning to the other teens. "Oh, uh, just so you know, I'll still be here."

Zeta Squad and RWBY (plus Rex) looked at him in confusion. Oscar just lowered his head and closed his eyes. For a moment, a green and white aura shone around him, flickering out as quickly as it appeared. He opened his now glowing eyes, and he flashed a familiar smile.

"It is so very good to see you again, students." Oscar's voice suddenly had the same inflections and mannerisms of-

"Professor Ozpin?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"...the hell just happened?" Kevin asked, even more confused.

"Yes. I have returned," Ozpin said, still smiling. "Though I may be the one speaking, Oscar is still present mentally. He's merely handed over the control, so to speak."

Just don't make us do anything embarrassing, the boy whispered in his head.

"I'm aware of how...perplexing this may be," Ozpin went on, putting his hands together.

"'Perplexing' is the WORST word you can use for this, Professor." Min looked like she needed a drink. "This is just straight up weird, and that's coming from me."

"And because Min said that, I'm going to call this whole thing very alarming," Ceres added, snatching Qrow's flask despite the older man's protests. She took a quick swig from it before passing it on to Min, who also drank.

Blonko looked at them disapprovingly before turning back to Ozpin. "I have to admit that I am less alarmed and more… bewildered over all of this."

"I just find this too hard to believe," Blake finished as Yang took the flask and sipped.

Ozpin chuckled. "It's good to see you children still have your sense of humor. And your chaotic nature, I did enjoy your antics at school."

"I'm confused- how'd you get into the body of some random farmhand?" Ben asked after taking his own drink from Qrow's flask, ignoring the Huntsman's spluttering. "I would've assumed the whole 'rebirth' thing meant you were literally reborn. Like, you had to start over."

Ozpin sighed. "I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. And I wasn't exaggerating. You know that I was cursed- for thousands of years, I've walked the surface of Remnant, living, dying, and reincarnating in the body of a like-minded soul. The Professor Ozpin you all met was not my first form, and clearly wasn't my last. It's... an extraordinarily strenuous process for everyone involved."

"So...what exactly are you, in a metaphysical sense?" Ruby asked as she handed the flask to Kevin.

"I am the combination of countless men who've spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant," Ozpin explained. " With every rebirth, my soul is eventually merged with another and I am changed, but my memories stay with me. This curse was bestowed upon me by the Gods, because I failed to stop Salem in the past. But we must stop her now."

Yang grimaced. "And how do we do that? She's invincible."

"Invincible," Ozpin mused. "What a funny word. Invincible has many similar words, such as invulnerable, indestructible, unbending, unyielding...but, there's one very important word missing."

"And what's that?" Ceres asked, unimpressed.

"Unstoppable."

A beat of silence.

"...I mean, fuck, he's got a great point," Kylie pointed out.

Ruby beamed. "So, we can just take little cute boy Ozpin to one of the other headmasters and set things straight, right? I'm sure they're in on this too."

"Please do not call me little. Or cute," Ozpin grumbled.

Hey, that's MY validation. Not yours, Oscar huffed mentally.

"We're...not sure that's the best idea," Qrow said with some trepidation. He no longer looked so annoyed about his flask, not even when Rex took a long sip from it.

"Really? Why not?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I would have assumed the 'leader' would have already informed the others of his return," Blonko added.

Ironwood, who had been flipping between seriously listening to the story and looking amused at the kids' antics, smoothly interjected. "We have our suspicions on a few people. Mainly Headmaster Lionheart, who's been particularly evasive as of late. It's unlike him."

"He isn't just behaving irrationally, he's disobeying specific instructions I had left him." Ozpin frowned in thought. "Something's wrong. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I don't want to rule out any possibilities, either. No one outside of this room knows that I've paired with Oscar, and I think it may be best to keep it that way."

"We're just playing things close to the chest until we get a better hand," Qrow said. Weiss handed Rook the flask, and the alien shrugged and drank the last gulp. He then handed it to an offended Qrow, shrugging his shoulders as if to say what can ya do?

Ironwood looked like he was trying not to laugh. "Exactly. We also need to focus on something else."

"What's to focus on? We've already got a badass room full of Huntsmen and Huntresses." Min gestured towards them all, emphasizing her point.

"Well, you need to remember, this isn't just your war," Ozpin explained. "We need to enlist the help of others, starting in Mistral."

Qrow threw in his few cents. "I've been there enough times to know where we can find some more people."

"So long as they're trustworthy," Ozpin reminded him.

"You can trust them to put up a good fight." He grinned. "I'll throw a list together tonight."

"We can also do Step Two at the same time," Ironwood stated.

Ozpin smirked. "We need to get you, and many others, into fighting shape."

"We already know how to fight," Ruby said, hand on her hip.

"Plus, we just literally got out of a training arc," Ben added. "...well, it was in between months, but still. Seems redundant to do it again."

"Some of you are fine- I'd say Miss Dombrowski, Miss North, Mr. Tennyson, Miss Xiao Long, Miss Rose, and Mr. Salazar are fine where you are right now." Ozpin nodded. "The rest of you...you have many ways to go."

He pointed at Kevin. "Your fusion forms. How long can they last?"

"...one minute, maybe longer with Min's support," Kevin said quietly. "The one minute time limit can screw things up if I'm not careful, 'cause I have to count the seconds in my head."

"You need to learn how to retain that power for longer, especially without Min's support," Ozpin told him. "Stand on your own two legs, in a sense. Now, Miss Schnee! I've been told your skills in summoning are going well."

"I can summon a few less complicated Grimm," Weiss clarified. "It's still a work in progress."

"Excellent news. Mr. Blonko." Ozpin turned to the Revonnagander.

"Actually, we learned Blonko is his first name," Blake piped. "Rook is his surname."

"...really?" Ozpin asked, genuinely caught off guard. "My apologies."

"It is fine. Nobody knew, and I never saw a point in correcting them," Blonko said, praying for a subject change.

"Your Revonnah Kai techniques...they're powerful, and yet you lack the proper 'control' over them. Your body ends up inflicting more damage upon yourself than your opponents," Ozpin explained. "We need to work on mitigating that damage."

"Understood."

"Oz and I will be overseeing all of your training, personally," Ironwood said. "And in turn, you'll also be helping Oscar."

"How so?" Yang wondered.

"Yeah, when he's possessed by the headmaster of a combat school, I would assume he would be good to go," Weiss said, frowning in thought.

"Oscar can only give me temporary control with his aura," Ozpin explained. "Training will strengthen his body and his aura, and he'll inherit my muscle memory in time. Practice will really expedite the process. For example-"

He snapped his fingers, and Ironwood stood up from his chair and pulled it out. Ozpin immediately propelled himself into the air with his cane, spinning counterclockwise into a barrel roll, and landing in the seat of the chair.

Oscar freaked the fuck out.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" he yelled. "THAT WAS ALL ME BUT AT THE TIME IT WASN'T?! WHAT HAPPEN-"

Ozpin took over again. "Like so," he said, clearing his throat.

Everyone had been in various states of awe, except Ceres, who had only raised an eyebrow at the display.

Ben grinned. "That was awesome! I can't wait till Oscar can do that without freaking out."

"Professor Ozpin." Ruby felt so weird calling a kid younger than her 'professor', but she pushed on. "I do have one question: why did you mention my eyes when we first met?"

Ozpin blinked. "...oh, drat. I forgot to expand on that."

"...what?"

"Well, after the tournament, I was going to explain the silver eye thing to you in full, but, well, I died, and it slipped my mind." Ozpin shrugged helplessly. "That's what happens when you're a tired, forcibly immortal being."

"Still, How do you miss something that important?" Ceres asked, rubbing her forehead.

"Well, uh, to be fair," Ruby piped up, smiling nervously. "I never really asked."

Ozpin chuckled. "Equal faults on both sides."

"Yeah, okay, fair," Ceres conceded. "Still thought, couldn't you make an exception on this one thing? Especially since it might be key to killing Salem?"

"I never said that," Ozpin stated bluntly. "In a time of desperation, a mysterious form of magic made itself known to man, in the form of bright eyes. I had to wonder if maybe it had to do with the God of Creation, but I doubt he'd be that kind in the end. All silver eye warriors have the characteristics of being bright, sunny leaders that aid in creating a better future..."

Everyone turned and looked at Ruby.

"...Holy shit, that's me," she gasped.

"Take that, newspaper horoscopes," Ozpin joked, acting haughty. "But moving on, your silver eyes are from an ancient lineage of legendary warriors who possessed special abilities through the usage of their eyes. With most of the information on the Silver-Eyes largely rooted in myths and legends, true accounts or knowledge of their powers are rather difficult to find. The most consistent traits among these stories are that the eyes themselves are special and the people who possess them are fighters of unprecedented prowess."

"So, what's the difference between someone with regular eyes and silver eyes?" Weiss asked.

"It just sounds like Ruby just has some eye color with a really cool backstory," Kevin added.

"A good question," Ozpin said. "Silver-Eyed Warriors have powers that are fueled by strong desires to preserve life. As preservation is considered an extension of creation, Silver Eyes can work against Grimm, as they are manifestations of destruction. Legend has it that Silver-Eyed Warriors are able to strike down Grimm with a single look."

Yang whistled. "Damn. Looks really can kill."

"Really? A pun? Right now?" Kylie huffed.

"Hey, trying to lighten the mood."

"Silver Eyes can turn Grimm to stone, blind them, or vaporize them," Ozpin went on. "Ruby's powers activated during the Battle of Beacon- she managed to turn the dragon Grimm into stone on the first go. Rather impressive, to be honest."

"Interesting," Blonko mused. "So, one can theorize that Ruby's desire to protect life fuels these powers?"

"Correct." Ozpin turned to the girl in question. "Miss Rose, do you recall your thoughts in those moments?"

Ruby paused to think. "I was really focused on saving Ben's life at the time. Since, you know...arrow in the chest..."

"I got better," Ben said, shrugging.

"So, Ruby has this incredible gift that could have potentially taken care of the Grimm in a snap," Blake said, glaring at Ozpin. "Why hide it from her?"

"To be honest, I never expected anything to come of it," Ozpin explained, furrowing his brow. "Miss Rose shows an excellent use of her scythe, has been exposed to an array of random creatures, and fighting seems like second nature to her. Plus, with the humans Salem allied herself with, I wouldn't see much use in it. The silver eyes, while fatal to Grimm, don't have much of an effect on normal humans. It may do damage to ones with minor magical powers or things beyond the Earth, but still, magic really isn't that common anymore, right?"

Weiss pondered all that for a moment, before shrugging. "I suppose you have a point. But that doesn't excuse you not telling her."

Qrow grimaced. "Yeah, kind of a bad move, Oz."

"Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating."

Doctor Weller admired the armor on the enhanced Diamondhead, scanning every facet of the unique weaponry. He was 'pulling a Ruby'- any time he saw new tech, he'd act just like a kid on Christmas and ask everything about it.

Ceres, however, wasn't impressed. But then again, she rarely was these days.

"I don't get it," she complained. "Why would Diamondhead even need armor? You're already diamonds. That's pretty damn hard on the Mohs scale."

"Ah! That's the fun of it." Weller grinned. "Figuring out WHY a juggernaut would need this armor. Now, tell me- how did you use him earlier?"

Ben thought for a moment. "Uh, well, I think it's better if I showed you both. Ceres, throw a fireball at me."

She raised an eyebrow. "'Kay." She conjured up a baseball sized fireball and, like a pitcher, shot it straight at Ben's chest. He barely flinched as the flames suddenly changed from blue to green, and then miraculously transformed into energy.

Weller's eyes lit up in amusement. "Beer–Lambert law, beautiful thing," he said. "So, your suit takes something you had before and gives it a unique boost. Like an add on of sorts."

"A drive," Ceres realized. "It's an Omni Drive. Ben, how intense are these upgrades?"

"Well," he reached for the Omnitrix symbol, "I've learned it can range from simple armor upgrades..." Ben slapped down the watch and he morphed into Grey Matter. At first, it was the standard shift, gaining the trademark Galvan traits. Then, much like Velvet's camera, the Omnitrix projected green beams of light, becoming energy frameworks of various components. Said frameworks then filled in with white and black metal before they started to come together. A large central torso, resembling a classic UFO, had two large bolts connected into the chestplate, bolts that resembled Galvan eyes. Then, arms and legs were constructed and attached to the body. Grey Matter jumped into the air and landed inside, where the head would be. He landed into a pilot's seat as a glass dome rose up from the sides of the open area and clinked together.

Ben smirked. "...to complex machinery."

"This adds a lot more questions about the device," Weller said, eyes bright. "Now, isn't that just brilliant?"

Ceres grinned and steepled her fingers together like a mad scientist. "Oh, I'm gonna have fun with this..."

Just when Ben and Ruby had snuggled comfortably in bed, Ruby rudely decided to kill the mood when she rolled out from under the covers.

"Nooooo," her boyfriend whined as she walked over to the table. "Don't goooooo..."

Ruby picked up her phone. "I'll be right back. Weekly chat with my dad, y'know?" she told him.

"Fiiiiiine, I'll keep the door unlocked." Ben smiled as Ruby stepped outside. She unlocked her phone, smiling at her home screen- it had Ben and Ruby center stage, but they were surrounded by all their friends. It always brought her comfort whenever she saw it.

She held the phone up to her ear as the tone rang. She needed a few answers, and who better to call than the person who raised her?

"Ruby~!" Taiyang's voice rang out, more chipper than usual.

"Hey, dad!" Ruby grinned. "Catch you in a good mood?"

"What? No, you just saved me from a shitty board game," Taiyang said. "Did you teach the raccoons to cheat at Monopoly?"

"...maybe," shey giggled.

Taiyang groaned. "They took all the blue spaces and ran me to the ground..."

"Get good, boomer," Ruby snickered.

"Oh, whatever," he huffed. "What did you wanna-"

"Ozpin's back."

A beat of silence.

"...that fast, huh?" Taiyang noted, sighing gustily. "Took shorter than usual."

"You're not surprised?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, I've seen a lot in my day. You could show me an alternate universe and I'd just say 'alright, cool'," Taiyang said casually. "What's the new form?"

"It's a kid, a bit younger than a lot of us," Ruby told him.

"Lemme guess the name- Osborne, Oswald, Ozzy, Oswyn..."

She snickered. "His name is Oscar Pine. He's very, very lost."

"All of the hosts are. Getting lost is a part of the Ozpin reincarnation experience. It'll take a while for him to get settled," Taiyang explained. "He say anything else cryptic?"

"Well...there was one thing."

"What's that?"

"Mom had silver eyes, right?" Ruby asked nervously.

Taiyang paused- a first for the night. "That's right. He finally brought that up, huh?"

"Did you always know?"

"The 'silver eyes' thing wasn't really something I was concerned about. I saw it as like a secondary Semblance that could help wrap up long fights. Would turn Grimm to stone, like Medusa," Taiyang reminisced. "It was kinda cool to see your mother taking down all these giant monsters with a blink of an eye."

"Did she ever explain to you how she used it?" Ruby pressed. "Because I'm kind of drawing a blank here."

"Well, she did once say she thought of stuff that made her happy," Taiyang said. "I'm not sure how that works, because she was, like, perpetually positive."

Ruby frowned. "That's it?"

"Sorry, kiddo." He sighed. "I'm woefully unprepared for this. Now, if this was a topic like, how to knock out a fully grown man with a single punch, or how to make some really good cookies, I'm your go-to guy."

Ruby giggled. "Well, thanks for trying."

"By the way, how's your boyfriend doing?" her father teased. "He's not doing anything too stupid, right? Am I gonna have to get one of my many guns that I totally own and show off on Facebook to point directly at his face?"

"Daaaad..." Ruby groaned.

Ruby walked back into the room, bummed out. She was happy to talk to her dad, but still disappointed that she hit another roadblock on her silver eyes.

Ben immediately picked up on her mood and shifted into supportive boyfriend mode. "You okay?" he asked as he put away his phone and lifted the covers.

"Yeah, just processing," Ruby said, flopping on the bed.

"I know how you feel. I got this way during my first night with the Omnitrix," Ben told her.

"It feels weird, you know?" Ruby mused, looking up at the ceiling. "To be told something you never considered important about yourself is actually VERY important."

Ben held her hand and rubbed circles on the back of it. "Yeah, that does seem like something you should have been told a long time ago. Like, before you got to Beacon at the very least."

"I'm not even sure I was ready for it," Ruby told him. "Like, I took aliens in stride. Same with cryptids. And even though I get the concept of the silver eyes, I can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm...well, THAT important. Despite everything, I'm a normal girl. I don't want to be the bee's knees, I wanna have normal knees."

"I literally don't know what that means."

"I wanna be...normal-ish." Ruby sighed. "Like, yes, I know I fight giant monsters and stuff, but that's normal to a lot of people in my culture."

"Considering that camp we were in when we were kids, that makes sense," Ben stated.

"Just...ergh..." She rolled over in bed a few times, making sure not to hurt her boyfriend with her flailing. "You mentioned this is how you feel about the Omnitrix, right? Can you explain that?"

Ben lifted his arm to stare at the watch. "I mean, for the most part I can pretend that Ben Tennyson is just your run of the mill, 17 year old high schooler. Most of the time I don't even think about how I have the universal equivalent of Noah's Arc strapped to my wrist. But while the Omnitrix is now intrinsically tied to me, it didn't start out that way. You always had silver eyes, but I didn't always have the Omnitrix. So I always knew that it was insanely important."

"It's just weird knowing we're, like, the answer to destroying immortal witches and saving the world." Ruby sat up in bed, rubbing at her eyes.

Ben sat up next to her, and she put her head in his lap so he could run his fingers through her hair. "Well, that's something I've gotten used to," he joked.

"...this is gonna sound like a weird question, but...do you think you could help teach me how to use my eyes?" Ruby asked quietly. "I don't know anyone else who can relate to my situation more than you. Like, when I asked my dad, he just gave a few vague answers..."

"Yeah, parents do that," Ben commented. "But yeah, I'll help."

Ruby closed her eyes and smiled. "Thank you."

The mission board was a big deal at Atlas Academy. During their free time, students could actively earn money for doing simple deeds around the country, or if you were an older student, they could actually go out of the country. First year students usually did one and two star missions- simple stuff, like doing odd jobs around Mantle, taking care of Grimm, etc. Three to five star missions handled bigger things, like leading Goliaths away from an area, assisting in an arrest of some drug lord, or even stopping an active Grimm Pool. The five star ones were the jackpots, and Zeta Squad were rolling in dough by snagging most of those ones.

Ben and Ruby looked at the daily board, scanning for a relatively easy job. "We gotta start small," Ben said. "We gotta choose something we know you can handle."

Ruby pretended to pout. "Aww, so we can't kill Death Worms in the desert?"

"As fun as that sounds, we can't," he chuckled. "How about..." Ben's eyes scanned the display. "This new Beowulf mine infestation?" He pointed over to a two star mission with decent pay.

"That sounds good, honestly." Ruby hummed in approval. "500 Lien is a good deal."

"Could get that weapon upgrade you wanted," Ben said, a knowing smirk on his face.

She grinned as she imagined Crescent Rose freely shooting out little bombs, much like her sister's upgraded arm. "Bomber scythe~"

Ben snapped his fingers, snapping Ruby out of her trance. "Focus. We gotta get those eyes working."

"So, what do we need to know?"

"Hold on." He pulled up the mission description on his phone. "...oh this is gonna be a hot mess."

Ruby looked over Ben's shoulder. "What's it say?"

"Plumber base near that old Dust Mine slacked off and let some of those bastards in there. They can't afford to have an explosion because of the effects it could have on the wasteland." Ben reached the bottom. "Also they'd get fired."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ruby asked, beaming.

On top of the cold wintery base, two Plumbers stood there as guard. One Plumber was clad in maroon armor, the other in orange.

"...hey," the maroon one said.

"Yeah?" The other one asked, bored.

"...ever wonder why we're here?"

"Simmons, you've asked me this so many times I think I've lost count."

"Fine, fine, we've run out of things to talk about. Whatever." Simmons huffed. "When are those two supposed to be here, exactly?"

"Dunno," the orange one said. "All I know is that they're gonna help us with our problem. You got that 500 lien?"

"Grif! I thought YOU were handling that!" Simmons gasped, offended.

"Hey, Caboose was bothering me. I just gave him whatever the hell was in my pocket to distract him." Grif said. "...I hope he has a grasp on the concept of money."

Simmons huffed even louder. "Fine. But you owe me."

A ship flew over their heads, and the two looked up- a Bullhead was landing, with Ben and Ruby inside.

"Never knew they had a Plumber outpost here," Ruby asked as they both got ready to leave.

"It's a bit of a weird situation," Ben explained. "The Polar Outpost is mainly for containing the worst criminals. Apparently Solitas' ice is so damn strong they literally store criminals inside of it. Like, they phase them inside and just...leave 'em there."

"...that's not scary at all." Ruby shivered as she and Ben hopped out of the Bullhead. The two Plumbers quickly approached them, covered head to toe in protective gear.

"You two Grif and Simmons?" Ruby asked.

The two took off their helmets- Grif's face was burly and heavyset, with a square jaw and dark brown hair. Simmons' face was a weird mix of human flesh and robot parts. Ben felt there was a GREAT story behind that.

"Yep. You two Ben Tennyson and Ruby Rose?" Grif asked.

"Well, yeah," Ben answered, smiling lightly. "You were the guys who put up the assignment, right? What's the situation? We know about the mine thing, but how'd it end up like that?"

"Ask him," Simmons huffed, elbowing his partner in the gut.

"Must EVERYTHING be my fault?" Grif grimaced. "I was supposed to make sure no Grimm got inside because of some stupid reopening thing that was supposed to happen. I got hungry, I went to go make a snack, and somehow a bunch of Beowulf got inside. IS THAT REALLY MY FAULT?!"

"YES!" Simmons shouted.

"...are you two always like this?" Ruby asked, unimpressed.

"We're usually more in line when Carolina's around," Simmons sighed, acting as if Ben and Ruby knew this woman. "Anyways, you guys have to help us with it. Preferably before..." Simmons checked his watch. "Uh hey, Grif, what time do Sarge and Church get back from that meeting with Ironwood?"

"I dunno, 4 PM?" Grif shrugged half heartedly. "Why? What time is it now?"

"...2:30 PM."

"...well, shit."

"Welp, we best be going," Ben said, rolling his eyes.

Ben, Ruby, and the two incompetent Plumbers arrived at a wall of boulders in the main mine tunnel.

"Was that here before?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep. Smaller, less deadly explosion blew the thing up years ago," Grif explained. "It's possible the Beowulf got in here via some alternate route I wouldn't know about. So, is it STILL my fault it got in here?"

"Yes," the three of them said in sync.

"God damn it."

"I remember Weiss telling me how this mine was a labyrinth back in the day," Ben said. "There's all sorts of tunnels and chambers the Beowulf can move between, so if we're gonna kill this thing, we'll have to split up and corner it."

"Either way, a situation like this is gonna require some critical thinking," Simmons noted.

"Or..." Ruby pointed her gun at the boulders.

"Wouldn't recommend that." Simmons put a hand on her weapon. "What if we accidentally hit a dust thing? Or attract the Beowulf? Or just, you know, die in a cave like a bunch of idiots?"

"God, I cannot let Sarge write my obituary," Grif grumbled. "I can see it now-" The lackwit put on a deeper, mocking voice. "Private Griff died as he lived- AN IDIOT!"

Ben and Ruby shared an unnerved look. What the fuck was up with these two?

"How about we look around for an opening then?" Ben piped up. "I'd say we could hike up the mountain, but that'd be a little time consuming...and we might not find anything there."

"Fine, fine," Grif huffed, before walking over to a wall. "Nothing over here..."

Ben and Ruby gave Simmons a look.

"He's always like that. Don't worry."

"You know, I just might have a solution." Ben grinned as he activated the Omnitrix. "I'll just poke my head on through." He slapped down the dial, transforming into Ghostfreak. The alien floated over to the boulders blocking the way and phased his head through.

"Whatcha see?" Ruby yelled. She turned back to look at Ben and noticed something. Ghostfreak's shadow seemed off, somehow. It was... rippling? Rippling like water when you skip a stone across it. Ruby blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things and, sure enough, it was still there.

"Mine carts… debris… no Dust or Grimm, though," Ben said. "I think it's safe to blow up-" Suddenly his body turned intangible, before shooting back out of the rocks.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, concerned. She would have to tell Ben about the shadow later.

"Well, something just jumped down from the ceiling and tried to maim me." Ben shivered. "Major jump scare there."

"Dude, you are LITERALLY a ghost!" Grif yelled. "Ghosts don't pussy out!"

"Well, humans acting as a ghost DO! Besides, you should have seen that thing! It was like a big, gross bug!" Ben defended himself as the earth beneath them began to shake. A Centinel burrowed its way out of the ground in front of them, shrieking like a banshee.

"...yeah, like that," Ben deadpanned.

"Centinel!" Ruby yelled, and the four of them split up. The Centinel lunged at Grif, who yelped and shot it directly in the mouth. It threw its head back with a pained squeal, its wound dripping with green fluid. It receded into the ground, and more Centinels came out from the floor and walls all around them, hissing and screeching.

"...I think we're gonna need some crowd control," Ben said, slapping down the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. Slapback took Ghostfreak's place, and he landed on the ground with a thud. Ruby zoomed away with her Semblance, while Grif and Simmons loaded their weapons and began firing. Grif yelled as he barely hit any targets, while Simmons had some more success.

Ben rammed his back into a wall and split into two separate Slapbacks. The two of them jumped up and tackled two different Centinels, weighing them down with their superior weight class. Ruby beheaded them quickly before landing in a cool pose.

"Think this would be a good time to use your eye trick?" One of the Slapbacks asked her.

"I dunno, honestly," Ruby admitted. "As scary as this all is, this is manageable. Unless we get cornered?" A Centinel burst out of the ground, but Ruby beheaded it before the rest of it could reveal itself. "...I think we'll be fine."

The two Slapbacks gave each other a look. "That was so fucking hot."

"Keep it in your pants, boys." Ruby grinned as she disappeared, leaving rose petals behind.

The two Slapbacks shook their heads. "We are so lucky," one of them said dreamily.

"I know. Yeet me!" The Slapback clone curled up into a ball as the other Slapback picked him up and threw him at one of the Centinel, cracking its body and causing it to disintegrate. The clone landed on the ground just as bullets bounced off his back. He sighed and turned to Grif.

"Are you just firing at random now?" The clone sassed.

"YES! BECAUSE I DON'T WANT THEM COMING ANYWHERE CLOSE TO ME!" Grif shrieked before a Centinel burst out of the ceiling and grabbed him by the chest, slamming him around like a ragdoll.

For a few minutes, nobody helped him. The Slapbacks just stared, Ruby was busy being a badass, and Simmons...may or may not have been laughing.

The Slapbacks sighed, as they decided to finally act...when something happened.

The Centinel's attack suddenly ceased as it retracted back into its hole, dropping Grif on the ground. The two Slapbacks shared a confused look.

"They ran?" Ben asked as he reverted to human.

"Centinels tend to flee when they realize they're outnumbered," Ruby explained. "That, and they're more annoying."

"You can say that again..." Grif groaned.

"Well, this room's been cleared, so I guess..." Simmons paused, as he looked at the wall. "Hey...you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Grif asked.

"Shut up, listen." Simmons pointed to the wall. The sounds of low growling could be heard.

"There's one of our targets," Ruby murmured, gripping her weapon tightly. "We just stay quiet and-"

Too late. Grif and Simmons were already firing their lasers at the wall, breaking through it and hopefully hitting the Beowulf.

"Well, so much for quiet," Ben grumbled.

"Hey, we got it." Grif grinned. "You had your cool moments, and now we had-" The snarling sound shut him up quickly.

"Consider that moment retracted," Ruby quipped as she turned to the hole in the wall. A Beowulf was crawling through...except it was larger than usual. For some reason, it looked different. The inside of its mouth and its eyes were purple as opposed to the usual red color. It had spikes on its arms that looked like purple crystals. The beast roared at them- only Grif and Simmons flinched.

"Well, that's different," Ben noted, cracking his neck. "Alright, let's get to work. Right?"

"Right!" Ruby grinned, her silver eyes glinting.

They expected to hear Grif and Simmons also agree, but to their shock, they were running off.

"FUCK THAT!" Grif yelled back at them. "YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN!"

"...idiots," Ruby hissed.

The larger Beowulf howled- more and more of its brethren flooded into the room, snarling and trying to crunch down on Ben and Ruby's limbs.

"Let's see how hard Blitzwolfer can bite back!" Ben activated the Omnitrix and slapped it down- bandages wrapped around his body, elongating his torso, his arms...

The green light faded, and a looming mummy-like figure stood there. His arms were quite long, to the point where his fingers almost reached the floor when standing up. He had a white cloth with gold lining the edges resting atop his head. Under the cloth the head was shadowed, and green eyes peered out from under it. Under the wraps of the upper torso, a radiating green glow peeked through. There were two stray ends of the wrapping that hung from his back and reached the floor. The garment around his waist was also white and accented with a gold color around the edges. In the middle of the front and back of this garment there were two gold pieces of fabric that were somewhat longer than the rest of the garment. Tight black gauntlets with gold lined edges and two thin glowing green stripes each sat just above the hands and feet. The fingers and toes resembled long strands of wraps hanging from the hands and feet. The Omnitrix symbol rested upon one of the shoulders. Ruby sniffed the air and noted he smelt of embalming fluid.

"The mummy?" Ben looked down at his hands. "Aww, great..."

The Beowulf got closer, swiping and slashing at the alien and knocking him back into a wall. Ben frowned as he found himself stepping on his bandages.

"How the fuck do you work these things!?" he hissed.

"Do YOU need help?" Ruby joked as she slashed through a Beowulf.

"I can adapt!" Ben scoffed, before the Beowulf picked him up and threw him across the way again.

"Alright! If you say so!" Ruby laughed before zipping off. Ben growled as he stood back up.

"I need to end this soon or I'm gonna wind up as this thing's chew toy!" he muttered. Ben shot out his hands and his bandages flew at the Beowulf. The beast narrowly avoided the attack, instead pouncing on top of Ben. It roared right in his face, but Ben wrapped his bandages around its snout and laughed.

"Timing's a bit off on my long ranged attacks, but if I get up close and personal-" Ben's back bandages wrapped around the Beowulf and swung it into a wall, destroying it entirely.

Ben grinned. "Alright, let's see what else I can do."

Ruby swung her scythe around, trying to slice into the Beowulf- his hide was too damn durable all of a sudden. How, though? Ruby could normally tear through Grimm like tissue paper. And what even was that purple glow-?

Wait.

Wait.

"BEN!" Ruby shrieked. "Go Brainstorm! Now!"

Ben whipped a Beowulf into a wall. "Aw, what? I just got the hang of this dude...uh, Snare-oh! I just got the hang of Snare-oh!"

"Look, there's something up with these Beowulf, and I've got a hunch that Brainstorm can confirm for me." Ruby switched to energy blade mode and she swung it at the monster- now she was getting somewhere. There was a noticeable gash on it's chest.

"Alright, alright! One seafood platter, coming up!" Ben slapped the Omnitrix symbol. Brainstorm scrambled away, still keeping a mental link with Ruby active.

So, what's the deal? Ben asked, wishing his crab legs could take him faster.

Okay, so, that corrodium stuff we were dealing with. It empowered the living hell out of a bunch of those farmer guys, right? Ruby asked as she slashed at the Beowulf again. You don't think..

Only one way to find out. Ben spun around and electrocuted the beast with a powerful blast of electricity- it wasn't enough to kill it, but enough to knock it unconscious so that Ben could properly analyze it.

Ben scurried on over- he had less than a minute to act. Brainstorm scanned the beast quickly, and his brain ran a few simple tasks.

There was something Holiday mentioned about the corpse they found a few days ago. She said up close, the body's cells were undergoing a sort of 'mass defect' of the fusion kind- as if the coordium had willed itself to bond to the victim. And if Brainstorm could find results similar to that...

Wow, almost instantaneous. The results were almost identical to what Holiday had found.

Yeah, you're right, Ben noted. Corrodium.

What can't this rock buff? Ruby mentaly groaned, We'll have to tell the others. If it can boost Grimm-

Her train of thought was interrupted by a howl echoing from deeper in the cave system.

And that would be the rest of the pack, Ben said before he pressed down on the Omnitrix to swap out. Where the crab-like alien once stood, there was now an entirely new alien. Yellow armor had fully enveloped Ben's body. His arms were larger with large silver pistons jutting back out from the elbows. Large parts of the forearms were open to show more of the piston, a black cylinder with silver flutes curving around it. A short, grey, metallic tail slammed against the rock floor as Ben took in this new form.

"Another new guy?" Ben's voice was much deeper to fit with his tank-like size. "And I just thought up Snare-Oh."

"When we're done here, can I name it then?" Ruby smirked as she slid a new clip into her scythe.

"Hmm… How about whoever kills more Grimm gets to name it, deal?"

"Deal."

Right on cue, the rest of the pack showed up. Each one had that same sick purple glow in their eyes. Of course, no pack is complete without an alpha. Said alpha must have been exposed to the corrodium more than the others. Purple spikes now lined its forearms and back. The Grimm's snout had snapped and distorted into a horrific sight. Even with the deformities, the creature arched its head back and howled, letting the pack charge. The Grimm that had been knocked out suddenly came to, lashing out at the heroes. Before it could even get up, Ruby quickly sliced through the beast's neck, severing its head from its shoulders.

Ben got ready to fight the pack when, suddenly, his hands turned into giant, industrial rock-breaking drills. "Ok, this guy seems straightforward enough." he smirked...or would have if this form had a visible mouth.

He raised his arm back, drill spinning rapidly, and he thrust forward in an uppercut. In one, fluid, arc-like motion, Ben impaled the nearest Beowulf, lifted it off the ground, and then slammed the beast into the dirt. The drill bore its way through the creature's chest, black smoke gushing out of the chest wound. Another Beowlf sliced against Ben's armor, only for the claws to spark against the metal. Ben turned to the wolf and back-handed it away.

Ruby, meanwhile, was dealing with the Beowolves that decided she was a good target. Her Crescent Rose transformed into its turret mode- she began firing shots across the way, blasting the Beowulves back. "I am SO glad I upgraded this thing."

The Alpha, however, growled as it saw its pack rush forward. Some of the beasts were hit and the impact knocked them back, black smoke rising from where they were hit. Instead, it simply prowled off to the side, letting its pack take the attention of its would-be prey.

"Great. They're intelligent now," Ruby snarled. "What, you gonna talk next?"

Her focus was taken back to the rest of the pack as one of the lower Beowolves pounced, leaping right at her. Ruby quickly switched back to her scythe mode, and bisected the beast in one slash.

Ben, meanwhile, saw some of the Grimm rush into position around him. Like any predators, the beasts were circling their prey. When the first wolf rushed in, fangs bared, Ben didn't even need to turn. The Beowolf's fangs actually BROKE against the armor, causing it to whimper out in pain.

"Walking tank," Ben noted, knocking on his armor and making it clank. "Nice."

"So, what are we thinking for this guy's name?" Ruby asked, sending an energy blade at the Beowulf.

"Well, for one-" Ben thrusted his arm forward, his hand replaced with a drill that dug into a Grimm's torso. "-it's gotta have 'drill' in the name."

"Drillbit? Drillman?" Ruby offered as she stabbed another Beowulf with the spike on the end of her scythe.

"Drillman's a hard no." Ben grabbed one of the pouncing Grimm out of the air and slammed it into the ground so hard that multiple bones broke. "Drillbit's fifty-fifty. Guy's a walking tank so...how about Armodrillo?"

"Armodrillo? Like armadillo? How does that even work?" Ruby asked.

"I mean, guy's got armor that these guys can't break through, and the drill hands," Ben defended.

"There's gotta be more to it, right?" Ruby pleaded.

"Well, I mean, this guy has SOME traits of an armadillo right? The tail?"

"...I guess?" Ruby stabbed another Beowulf. "I dunno, I just don't see it."

"Oh come on, it's better than Drillman though, right?" Ben smacked two monsters aside with his tail.

"Drillman was basic but cool, fuck you!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping on Ben's back to snipe some more Grimm.

And that was when the Alpha made its move. It rushed in and slashed at Ben, ducking behind other Beowolves as cover in case Ruby fired at it.

Ben quickly stepped back- even though his armor could probably take the hit, those claws looked dangerous. Ben took another step back, and the piston in his left arm shot up. He threw a heavy haymaker, made even more powerful when the piston shot down.

The Alpha saw it coming and dodged out of the way, trying to climb up Ben so it could reach Ruby.

"Rue!" Ben shouted. "Get back!"

Ruby jumped off the yellow alien- Ben began to shake violently, like his body was the epicenter of an earthquake. The mine began to quake, and Ruby gasped in shock. "Uh, hey, that's a cool power and all, but we're in a DUST MINE! I don't wanna get crushed by-"

Ruby felt pebbles hit her head. She looked up to see a GIANT boulder falling from the ceiling. She gasped and protected her head in vain- there was a flash of green-

And nothing happened.

Ruby opened her eyes to see Fourarms holding the boulder above their heads. It looked like he had been one of the lucky aliens to get an upgrade from the Omni Drive, if the metallic armour was anything to go by. He wore a shiny metallic helmet upon his head, and it seemed that his four arms had heavy gauntlets covering them. Two large shoulder plates rested on his shoulders, and two gear-like pieces of armour wrapped around the inner shoulders and kept the chest plate in place. Embedded in the middle of the chest plate was the Omitrix's symbol.

"Gotta love these power ups." Ben grinned as he set the boulder aside.

"So, what can you do now, exactly?" Ruby asked curiously.

"No idea," Ben admitted. He looked down at his hands, which were glowing green. "But given the emphasis put on these bad boys..."

A Beowulf snarled and hissed at them, and Ben held his hand out- instantly, a palm shaped projectile launched itself outward, curled itself into a fist, and smashed the Beowulf's face in with a single hit. Ben and Ruby watched in complete awe as the projectile returned to the gauntlets.

Ben smirked. "I can do that now, I guess."

"Wow, they finally made Fourarms cool. Maybe this armor really CAN do anything!" Ruby joked.

"...what's wrong with Fourarms?"

Ruby shrugged. "Ehhh, he's alright, but he's like, a total basic, beginner alien."

"He's not 'basic', he's a 'classic'," Ben protested.

"No, a classic is Heatblast or Diamondhead," Ruby corrected him. "Fourarms is kinda boring."

"...can we discuss this later?" he grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Y'know what, yeah," Ruby said, noting their current situation. "We'll talk about the difference between basic and classic after we get out of the collapsing Dust mine."

"Besides, I wanna see what these hands can do!" Ben beamed as he and Ruby ran through the mines.

Rocks fell around them, shaken loose by Ben's new form. It was a miracle no Dust crystals had been shaken free. The stuff could be incredibly volatile when unrefined.

A few more Alpha Beowulfs appeared from down the hall, snarling and frothing at the mouths. Ben quickly launched his hands- they hit the monsters at full force, pinning them against a wall for Ruby to strike.

She leapt in, swinging her scythe at their necks to quickly cleave their heads off. "Ok, not gonna lie, really liking this combo." She smirked after cutting through another Alpha. "Wonder if we could work Dust into it, ooh, or Weiss' Glyphs," Ruby thought aloud, new ideas for team moves materializing in her head.

Ben looked over, noticing a Dust crystal. "No better way to find out than now!" He grabbed a red crystal, and the armor quickly absorbed it into his body.

Ruby's eyes lit up when she saw that. "Ohhhhh this is gonna be fun!"

"Oh, fuck yes." He gripped his burning red hands.

"When we get out of here, we are so experimenting with this," Ruby exclaimed happily as she shifted her weapon into its war scythe mode. Ben just smiled as they ran through the collapsing mine.

More Beowulf showed up, but Ben and Ruby made quick work of them. Ben threw a multitude of flaming punches, and Ruby hacked their heads off in swift movements.

The Grimm tried their hardest to lunge in and attack, but failed each time. One of the beasts was unlucky enough to find itself crushed beneath one of the falling rocks. The rest were either burned to ash or sliced to pieces.

Ben scoffed. "This is too easy. Where's the real challenge?"

"Why do I get the feeling you jinxed it?" Ruby asked as she drove the war scythe's blade through the throat of a lunging Beowolf.

"What? No. I totally didn't jinx it," Ben said, throwing a Beowulf into a wall. "That would NEVER happen."

"Riiiiiiight, and they didn't make horrible bootleg shows based on us." Ruby took a shot at a charging Beowolf's leg, causing it to trip and stumble.

Ben and Ruby continued to fight, but Ben quickly learned a big downside about this armor...and having an already pretty big form.

You get tired very quickly.

"You good?" Ruby asked after slicing another Grimm.

"Yeah...just... not used to the armor yet," Ben grunted, throwing another Beowulf off.

Ruby took a quick shot at another one, the Grimm realizing Ben was slowing down. Like any good predator, Grimm either went for the slowest or the most isolated prey if they couldn't just charge in.

"There's too many of them for both of us to fight off at this point!" Ben yelled. "What do we do?"

"...exactly what we came here for," Ruby said, a glint in her eyes.

"I know that look. What're we going for?"

"The best time to learn something is at last minute panic," Ruby declared. "I need to use my eyes."

"Just try not to blind me," Ben teased, getting ready to hold off the Grimm in case she needed time.

"I-I dunno if I can, with all this noise and stuff," Ruby said, tired and a little dizzy. "It's hard to focus with everything going on."

"Oh, right," Ben realized, slapping down the Omnitrix symbol and reverting back to human. "...that may be my fault."

"You think?" Ruby sighed. "So, how are we going to do this?"

"Simple."

Ruby looked up to see the Grimm getting closer, but Ben held her close and covered her ears. "Don't think about the Grimm. Focus on your friends, your family, ANYTHING. Focus on life, not the aspect of death that is totally NOT approaching us at the moment-"

Vivid memories flashed through Ruby's mind: the nights she spent with Yang when they were younger; awkward small talk with Weiss; reading with Blake late into the night; working with Ceres on weapons; pranking people with Kevin and Min; training with Blonko, Ari and Lev; cooking with Kylie...

Of course, those thoughts slowly turned negative. She remembered Cass' burning glares, Penny's charred remains, Mercury's sadistic look as he walked injured people, Cinder's manic expression as she fired an arrow into Ben's chest-

The Grimm were drawing closer. Ben closed his eyes and braced for impact-

And then Ruby remembered.

"...so, how do you know my grandpa?" Ben attempted to break the silence.

Ruby looked away from the window and glanced over at him. "Oh? Oh, he's a friend of my dad's. My dad's kinda traveling with my sister for the next few months, and… your grandpa offered to take me for the summer."

"Oh," he said. She had an honestly valid reason to be here. "...I don't think I got your name, by the way. I'm Ben."

She smiled back, making him feel a little more comfortable. "My name's Ruby. Ruby Rose."

That was the first time she met her best friend and boyfriend. It was so long ago, but Ruby loved that memory. It was a little insignificant, considering all the other memories they made together, but that one was the most important.

Because that's where it all started.

With a simple 'hello'.

And then she remembered something better.

Summer Rose smiled down at little Ruby, tucking into her bed. "I'm sorry for having to leave so soon, Ruby. Your mother just...has to fight some really big monsters. They might hurt other families like ours, and...I want to make sure they're just as safe as we are."

Ruby frowned. "Aww, but our tea party. I got Mr. Snuffles to come...and he NEVER comes..."

"We'll have it when I get back," Summer told her, pecking her on the cheek. It made Ruby feel safer than she already did. "I love you, sweetie."

Ruby smiled. "I love you too."

Ruby's eyes shot open, silver gleaming. She stood up and her eyes glowed brightly once more, driving the Grimm back and disintegrating them all with a single glare. Ben could only watch in awe as the entire horde simply… died.

Ruby groaned as she rubbed her forehead, collapsing on her knees. "Ugh...big drawback… headache..."

Ben kneeled down beside her, holding her shoulders. "You did great."

Ruby smiled despite the pain. "Of course I did."

Outside the mine, Grif and Simmons were, as usual, arguing.

"Are you crazy?! I'm not going in there alone!" Griff exclaimed.

"I already told you, you're not going in alone. I'll be right behind you at a good distance," Simmons replied.

"Yeah, 'a good distance' means you're using me as a shield so you have time to run!"

"After meeting you two? Yeah, I believe that."

Grif and Simmons looked up to see Ben and Ruby walking out of the tunnels. Ruby looked weak, so her boyfriend was supporting her. "Thanks for your help, guys," Ruby snarked. "Nice to see where alien tax dollars are going."

"Holy shit! You're alive!" Griff said, honestly glad to see them.

"See! I told you they were fine," Simmons said, like he knew all along.

"Oh shut up, you were just as worried as I was!"

"You two owe us double," Ruby said bluntly.

"...you know, that's fair," Simmons admitted.

"And, we have to tell your commanding officers. There was a foreign subject in there-" Ben started, but Grif was already screaming. He rolled his eyes. "Next to Blukic and Driba, these two are very incompetent."

Ruby grabbed Ben's hand and held it tight. "So... thanks for that little pick me up earlier."

"Hey, it was just me being me." Ben shrugged. "Did you think happy thoughts?"

"Yep." Ruby said, a small grin on her face.

"Care to share them?" he teased, his face getting close to hers. Ruby pushed him away and grinned.

"I just thought of how far we've come," Ruby admitted quietly. "All of us. And that just made me go all warm and fuzzy."

"...you weaponized good vibes. That's your power," Ben realized. "The vibe check."

"...oh my god, it is," Ruby gasped. "I'm the Vibe Checker."

"But on a more serious note." Ben looked back at the mountain. "There's corrodium in there. We gotta inform the others, maybe have Rufus inspect it."

"How'd it get there, though? It wasn't on any of the points on Azmuth's map," Ruby said. "It can't have just...warped in there, right?"

Ben sighed heavily. "I'm really starting to hate mysteries. I'd like an answer to just be handed to me, for once."

"...dude."

"Yeah?"

"Clockwork."

"Oh."

Ruby arched an eyebrow.

"...OOOOOH-"

Clockwork stood in the hallway where the Coordium was found, but at a safe distance. Ruby was close by, recording for their teams.

"Let's get some answers," Ben declared as his headpiece began to spin. The world was coated in a greenish hue as the two focused on the crystal. Time began to flow backwards. Ben expected it to take a few weeks or something. But-

It happened.

The corrodium was sucked through a rift.

Ben and Ruby blinked.

"...when did this happen?" Ruby asked.

"This happened just a few hours before we got here."

"...what?"

"It was just dropped in, from the look of things," Ben told her. "Like, we know it was Zs'Skayr who had a part in it, but how? Viktor can't make rifts."

"Charmcaster, maybe?"

"Her magic's good, but not that accurate," Ben said. "How the fuck did..."

They went silent.

"I fucking hate mysteries."